by SamuelBernou·Workflow
Images © SamuelBernou. Used for product review; image policy.
Storytools earns its place in the Blender extension library for gathering storyboard-specific controls — grease pencil setup, camera and object gizmos, and macro-like tool presets — into one viewport tab. It is maintained by SamuelBernou and reached version 3.3.2.
Storytools - Storyboard Tools is a Blender add-on from SamuelBernou aimed at storyboarding and 2D animation. Once installed, it adds a Storytools tab to the viewport sidebar; restarting Blender once after installation enables the material association handler.
A Create New Drawing popup adds a grease pencil object facing the camera, either at the cursor position or right in front of the camera, with an option to parent it to the camera and set the distance in meters. New objects automatically load a default storyboard palette and reset draw mode to Origin - Front Axis. A Drawing Objects Stack keeps the same mode across objects when selecting, and a selected material sticks to the active layer.
A bottom control bar offers action gizmo buttons to place objects and cameras, with all transform actions respecting autokey — pan, move forward or backward, rotate on the camera view axis (Ctrl snaps to 15-degree angles), scale, align to camera, and keying. A top Tool preset bar holds customisable button-plus-shortcut presets that set a Blender tool with options, like a Macro.
Storytools - Storyboard Tools is best for blender artists building storyboards and 2D animation with grease pencil who want camera and object placement gizmos and reusable tool presets inside the viewport.
Storytools - Storyboard Tools is completely free to download and use.
Storytools targets Blender 5.0 and newer for its current, maintained version, which is distributed through Blender's extension platform. Earlier branches exist for older releases: the gpv2 branch covered Blender 4.0 to 4.2 and the bl42to45 branch covered Blender 4.3 to 4.5, but both are no longer maintained. Downloads for those 4.0-to-4.2 and 4.3-to-4.5 versions are listed on the project's release page. Versions of Blender below 4.0 are not supported. For the latest stable build, use the extension platform on Blender 5 and above.
Storytools installs directly from Blender: open Edit > Preferences > Get Extension, search "Storytools", and click install. After installation, restart Blender once to enable the material association handler. Once active, the add-on adds a Storytools tab in the viewport sidebar. For Blender 5 and newer, the latest stable version comes from Blender's extension platform, while older releases for Blender 4.0 to 4.5 are available on the project's release page. A complete user guide is linked from the developer's documentation.
Storytools is listed as free here and released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later. It is developed and maintained by SamuelBernou, with sponsorship from Samuel Bernou and, previously, CNC, Autour de Minuit and El Guiri Studios. The add-on requires no special permissions in Blender. For current licensing terms and the most up-to-date details, check the developer's page on GitHub or the Blender extension platform. Documentation and demo videos are also available there for anyone wanting to see the tools before installing.
Storytools adds a Tool preset bar at the top of the viewport, where tool presets act as combos or customisable buttons paired with a shortcut. Each preset sets a Blender tool with its options, working like a Macro, and appears as a button in the top bar. Alongside this, a bottom control bar provides action gizmo buttons for placing objects and cameras, and all transform actions respect autokey. Object actions include pan, move forward or backward, rotate on the camera view axis, scale, align to camera, and keying at the current time.
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